ryan is a smart and effective speaker. his ideas are the wrong ones. though biden is considered more experienced than ryan. political analysts say the vice president must avoid making one of his well-documented gaffes that end up distracting from the message. an issue that's sure to come up at tonight's debate is federal funding of amtrak. the company gets roughly one- point-four billion dollars a year in federal subsidies and counts vice president biden as one of its biggest supporters. biden has made more than 79- hundred round trips from wilmington, delaware to washington, d-c during his time on capitol hill. ryan's budget plan cuts federal subsides for amtrak and high speed rail projects. republicans favor privatizing the industry instead. national polls have the race for president in a dead heat but the president can still count on support in illinois. in a new tribune wgn-tv poll 55 percent of illinois voters are going with president obama. 36 percent are for mitt romney. five percent are still undecided. but the support shifts to romney when it